In Pac-12 Power Rankings, It's Defectors Against the Rest

At the halfway point of the next-to-the-last Pac-12 Conference football season as we know it, to paraphrase Abbott and Costello, who's on first?

The Big Ten West, of course.

UCLA and USC.

Unbeaten, unbruised, unapologetic.

Of course, there are no Big Ten conquests among the Los Angelenos' dozen victories as they slowly wean themselves off their century-old diet of largely West Coast teams.

In fact, the only Big Ten beatings handed out in this league of leftovers have come from the Pac-12's pair of Washingtonians and look what's happened there.

Washington State toppled then 19th-ranked Wisconsin 17-14 on the road and Washington paddled No. 11 not-for-long Michigan State 39-28 in Seattle.

Rumor has it, and we got this from the brother of a source of a source, is the Big Ten isn't adding schools — its replacing the shamed Badgers and Spartans with the Trojans and the Bruins.

After all, once mighty Wisconsin ended up firing coach Paul Chryst partly for this failure, among others, and Michigan State, a fearsome 11-3 and bowl-winning team just last season, has dropped four in a row once facing the Huskies following a 2-0 start.

The only other Pac-12/Big Ten crossover this fall has been Minnesota's 49-7 trashing of Colorado, which helped cause the firing of Buffaloes coach Karl Dorrell and a winless season so far.

Until someone beats them, it's USC and UCLA against everybody else in the Pac-12.

Two against 10.

SoCal against all points West.

Yet it's been that way since July 7 when the Men of Troy and the Bru Crew sent out their graduation notices after earning their Big Ten invitations without requiring any counter offers.

With those two holding up a collective 12-0 record, so much for any smoldering discontent or resentment from the Pac-12 remnants.

Our SI Power Rankings for Week 7 are as follows:

SI PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS / Week 7

1. UCLA 6-0, 3-0 . . . (5) 82

2. USC 6-0, 4-0 . . . (2) 79

3. Oregon 5-1, 3-0 . . . 69

4. Utah 4-2, 1-1 . . . 64

5. Washington State 4-2, 1-2 . . . 53

6. WASHINGTON 4-2, 1-2 . . . 48

7. Oregon State 4-2, 1-2 . . . 46

8. Cal 3-2, 1-1 . . . 33

9. Arizona 3-3, 1-2 . . . 30

10. Arizona State 2-4, 1-2 . . . 21

11. Stanford 1-4, 0-4 . . . 14

12. Colorado 0-5, 0-2 . . . 7

JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Washington State; 6. Washington; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9, Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado.

Comment: We've come to the point where we can put teams in categories: four teams in the Rose Bowl race, five teams looking for bowl bids, and three teams hoping the season ends soon. UCLA is atop the pack but has yet to play a road game (playing at Colorado doesn't count).

MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Washington; 6. Washington State; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: Oregon earned a crucial win in Tucson, its first since 2011, to enter its bye week on the perfect note. UCLA looks like the real deal and a serious conference title favorite after beating Utah. Oregon's next game against the Bruins should tell us an awful lot about their ability to win big-time games and I'm feeling confident they'll be up to the task.

KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

1. USC; 2. UCLA; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Washington State; 6. Washington; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: Stanford has been nothing short of chaotic this season, and that Oregon State loss was just a major gut punch to the program. Their schedule is only getting harder, and I don't know if they have a win in them the rest of the way.

SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Washington State; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington; 8. Arizona; 9. Cal; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: An Arizona State upset over Washington threw a wrench into things a bit, but the Pac-12 is still a conference that is being defined by its solid group of contenders locked in a tight race at the top. UCLA picked up a bigger win than anyone else in the conference this weekend by taking down Utah, bumping them up to the top spot thanks to USC’s second straight slow start, but the upcoming showdown between the Trojans and Utes in SLC should still have massive implications.

WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS

1. USC; 2. UCLA; 3. Utah; 4. Oregon; Washington State; 6. Washington; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: Utah and UCLA both look tough, but USC hasn’t done anything to deserve a drop in the power rankings. This week will tell us a lot about the top of the conference as the Trojans visit Utah. Bye weeks for UCLA and Oregon, but they face off against each other in Week 8.

COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Washington State; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington; 8. Arizona; 9. Cal; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: It was a rough week for the Utes whose inexperienced defensive line showed its true colors and were absolutely dominated by an undefeated Bruins squad. Now. halfway through the season, UCLA appears to have the strongest team while USC isn't far behind. Heading into week seven, USC has an opportunity to create some separation with a victory as the Utes hope to avoid their second conference loss that would most likely ruin any hopes of repeating as Pac-12 champions.

DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES

1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Utah; 5. Oregon State; 6. Washington; 7. Washington State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: As the L.A. schools run through the Pac-12 unheeded, maybe this justifies their pending move to the Big Ten. They need more competition, simple as that. They dispatched likely their toughest competition this past weekend. In Seattle, Kalen DeBoer still has a lot of work to do at the UW after his guys couldn’t do away with a wounded Arizona State program.

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